Celtic & Brendan Rodgers reign supreme again as Premiership title is retained
- Published
Celtic have now won seven consecutive titles and are on course for back-to-back trebles
This was a league title that was won before the curtain even came up on the season.
With all the respect that can possibly be mustered, no team was ever likely to challenge the treble-winning invincibles. They, quite incredibly, swept away all in their path last year, time and time again. Does it then follow that expectation and predictability should be seen to dilute achievement?
It may temper celebration somewhat but those who support, play, coach and run the Scottish champions will toast their success, and rightly so. The big question at the start of this season was never could they do it, it was could they possibly do it like last year?
With a squad almost untouched from the campaign before, they swaggered their way into and out of their first match of the season. Hearts, who had just ended the Ian Cathro experiment, were humbled 4-1 at Celtic Park on a warm Saturday in early August.
Brendan Rodgers' side's next trip to Gorgie would be less straightforward, but that's for later. At that stage, it was an invincible group of men, still basking in the treble glow, who were in no hurry to see their unbeaten run end.
In the following few weeks, Celtic negotiated their way through the qualifying rounds of the Champions League, a 4-3 away defeat by Astana blotting the otherwise impressive copybook.
Following their return from Kazakhstan, they dropped their first points of the season when St Johnstone held them to a 1-1 draw at Celtic Park. It was to be the first draw of nine before they clinched the title. Going into the festive period, and following a 1-0 home defeat by Anderlecht, they started to wobble.
Rodgers has five trophy wins as Celtic boss and could make it six in the Scottish Cup final against Motherwell
Hibs were 10 minutes away from ending the run. It looked likely, but a late Callum McGregor strike tore the roof off Celtic Park and took their tally to 67 games unbeaten. Fewer people were convinced it would last much longer, though.
Nobody could have guessed that when defeat was finally inflicted, it would be delivered as devastatingly as it was. Eight days before Christmas, on a freezing cold day in Gorgie, everything that could possibly go wrong for Celtic did.
Hearts were two up before the break and the champions looked completely out of sorts. Two more goals followed without reply in the second half and oh how those in maroon celebrated. Celtic's stunning unbeaten run was over.
After the final whistle, Rodgers gathered his players in a huddle on the pitch, thanked them and congratulated each of them for writing history in such a stunning fashion. Sixty-nine games unbeaten but in a strange way it may have felt like a weight had been lifted from a group of players who had been living and playing with the weight of incredible expectation.
The sensational run was over and Celtic looked more like mortal men but, domestically, when the big questions were asked, they usually found the answers.
After losing at Tynecastle, Celtic would lose just twice more before clinching the title
The team closest to calling themselves challengers over the past few years were swatted aside with ease. In fact, Aberdeen failed to score against the champions - and conceded eight - in all three games before the Premiership split. In February, following a draw at home to St Johnstone and a defeat by Zenit in the Europa League, Celtic travelled to Pittodrie knowing defeat could raise eyebrows.
They strolled to a 2-0 victory and comprehensively silenced any doubters. Once again, a challenge from the north never at any point looked realistic.
Despite some early season optimism from rivals Rangers, they never got close either. The Ibrox club were too busy getting things wrong from within to seriously concern their neighbours across the River Clyde. Celtic wins at Ibrox in September and March surprised no-one. The competitive nature of this once mighty tussle has long since gone and showed no sign of returning anytime soon.
Once again key players turned it on at key times, although it was a season when Rodgers flipped and flopped with his frontmen. Neither Leigh Griffiths nor Moussa Dembele could lay claim to being the manger's number one choice. The rotation, sometimes forced through injury, led to a campaign in which goals were more evenly spread throughout the team.
New signing Olivier Ntcham shone in the middle of the park, although the excitement surrounding the arrival of Chelsea youngster Charly Musonda has so far looked misplaced.
The two stars who have shone brightest have been, without a doubt, James Forrest and captain Scott Brown. Forrest has looked completely transformed. He has gone from a young man lacking self-confidence and stalling under previous manager Ronny Deila to a mature winger bursting with self-belief.
The consistency of Brown and Forrest has been a key part of Celtic's campaign
His skipper has already urged his fellow professionals to name him player of the year. Brown himself is in contention for that particular honour and it's little wonder. His progression under Rodgers has been breathtaking. To say he makes Celtic tick is an understatement.
Brown's will to win coupled with a battling composure in the middle of the park has led to his manager saying he would stroll into a top-six side in England's Premier League. Brown has only missed four matches for Celtic this season - three of those have ended in draws. Some fans fear what will happen to the club when Rodgers moves on - a Celtic without Brown should be equally concerning.
And so to the manager. The Northern Irishman knew, against the backdrop of a stunning 2016-2017, this campaign was always going to fall short. It would be wrong to suggest he's been the victim of his own success. A victim requires a misdemeanour and Celtic under Rodgers have once again stood tall over the rest of Scottish football.
He set his squad even more targets this year than last and continues to talk about hard work being central to their success. He continues to impress tactically, though. Bringing on a second striker after going down to 10 men against Rangers at Ibrox in March and ultimately winning the game was evidence of that, if any was needed.
Continued links to jobs down south are met with a reminder to those asking the questions that he's never been happier in his life. Even before the winning medals are placed around the necks of the Celtic players for the seventh consecutive season, their manager is plotting and planning for number eight.
A new season that will start exactly the same way as the last - with an expectation that the Celtic steamroller will thunder on.